


Phantom Tales of the Heart

by mydearconfidant



Category: Arsène Lupin - Maurice Leblanc, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Character Death, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mementos (Persona 5), Minor Character Death, Poetry, not graphic but, prose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2020-11-16 13:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20823380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydearconfidant/pseuds/mydearconfidant
Summary: Phantom thieves are nosy by trade and Akira is no exception. One day while at a rest stop in Mementos, he asks Arsene about his adventures.Ah, but there's always a catch.





	1. Chapter 1

“So, Arsene?” asked Akira.

“Yes, my boy?” replied the persona genially. 

“Tell me about your adventures. If I’m going to be a phantom thief, might as well know more about the history of the trade.”

“Ah, where to begin, where to begin…the Queen’s Necklace!” the first phantom thief claps his hands together in delight. 

“I am rather fond of that particular escapade. Let us begin, shall we?” He clears his throat, summons a monocle to wear, a cigar to smoke, and a chair to lounge on.

“There was a young lad of merely six years old! Though his father was absent due to rather unfortunate extenuating circumstances, he loved his dear mother, Henriette, fiercely. Though mother and son lived in rather shoddy conditions, since they were only given a shoebox of an apartment to live in, they had a relatively happy family life.”

“But not all was well. The nobles that the mother worked for were brimming with avarice….”

“Pardon me. This is a private conversation. Outside audiences are heavily discouraged at this time.” Lupin turns to look directly at you. 

You are the person who is reading this text right now.

“We cannot help busybodys, can we not? One has to get used to the constant distractions and whims of fate that plague and delight us honorable rogues. We cannot stop their prying, so let me instead…censor their sight and vision,” He snaps his fingers. 

Suddenly, reality distorts in red and black. You see Akira and Lupin as if they are in a haze of TV static. Their features disassemble right before your eyes, and the sound goes fuzzy. 

“...it belonged to Marie Antoinette,”

“...and little Raoul got away with climbing in through the window!...got away for it for two decades…”

“...Henriette did not recover…”

“...The lights of Paris, the moon above the city...a true delight,”

“...Done in, done in like a novice! Trussed up like a Christmas turkey.”

“...The great detective shot my love and I was a drowning man,”

“...Etretat, Etretat, how I loved you...what horrors have marred your lovely countenance…”

“...My dear Sonia Kritchnoff was one of the most charming creatures I had the pleasure of loving…”

“...Don Luis Perenna, now that was a nom de guerre!”

“...There was no career more brilliant than mine. I was, I am, Arsene Lupin the inimitable. Oh, there were the numerous disguises, there was the numerous affairs, but there remained only one man,” 

“For Lupin cannot defeat Lupin, eh? Destiny does not rest, so ambitions does not either.There is me, there was only ever me, and for better or worse, the world has never been the same...”

Lupin snaps his fingers again. The monocle and cigar disappear. He leans forward, and laces his fingers together.

His tone is now softer, sadder.

“My dear boy, if there are only a few lessons you take away from my stories, let it be this. As you inherit my pride and anger, do not let them consume you. Do not love rashly. Guard your heart, and guard it well. If you are to give your heart to another, give it all and give it faithfully,”

Lupin looks down. The pain of his past is written over his face.

“For I have not, and that is the cause of my suffering. You chose to tread my path, and I pray that you do not follow me in its entirety,”

He opens a pocket watch, and inside is a cluster of old photographs. You will never know them. He closes it shut. 

Suddenly, reality snaps back into focus. Lupin affects a grin, then turns to you again. 

He winks.

“And I can trust you to keep a secret?


	2. The New Velvet Warden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A one night special! Come and greet the new master of the Velvet Room.

The Velvet Room’s warden chair is his throne. But only for tonight.

He turns around.

A laurel-crowned Lupin gets out of the chain, grins at you, and extends his hand. He has taken Akira’s form and added a few years onto it.

“Come closer, my dear guest! As in life and death, I remain the master of the keep. The prison, a kingdom, what does it all matter! It is all one and the same.”

And who are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexism warning/ I'll discuss the bit of symbolism I put in.  
The laurels symbolize victory and it is a reference to Ovid's story "Apollo and Daphne". I did this for two reasons. The first is that victory ties into how Lupin is such a prideful and powerful bastard. Of course he'd like to declare how he is the best. The second reason is that I'm going to examine the unsettling gender dynamics of Lupin's relationships. Ovid's story has Apollo pursuing an unwilling Daphne, and I tied it to the sexism baked into a lot of Leblanc's writing.


	3. The Velvet Room's takeover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unwanted familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: suicide, death, referenced infidelity. guess who it is ;)

Who are you?

Who am I?

Impertinent fool, you presume too much by addressing me directly.

I will introduce myself only once. For I am the Countess of Cagliostro, and it is I who am the master here.

The Countess steps forth from the shadows. She stares Lupin down.

This woman is not supposed to be here. 

I wish she were gone. Dead. I wish I were dead. I deserved to die. I was not faithful. I was unfaithful with her. 

When I jumped in the sea-  
When I wanted the story to end, it didn’t. It should’ve. This wreath, the past, the present- an insidious poison inside my two lungs.

I cannot-  
I do not want to remember.

The Lupin at the throne is now a Lupin behind bars.

He was never free from the moment he met her. 

And so fate beats ons, for every heartbeat and heartbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!!!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Who are you?

Who am I?

I suppose you wouldn’t remember. I am just your Clarisse after all- and you probably do not even consider me yours anymore. 

Remember our little Jean? You saw how he grew into a fine man. I didn’t have that privilege.

The life where I drew breath and the life-in-death where I do not- they are one and the same. 

Please, if you have any mercy left- let me go! 

She makes a trembling Daphne rather than an overjoyed Eurydice. 

So you meet for the first time again. Do not dare to fall for your first love again.


End file.
